Before Tanaka’s Debut, Plenty of Expectations but Little Apprehension

HOUSTON — Masahiro Tanaka and his interpreter flew to Toronto on Thursday, heading into what is expected to be a scene of great anticipation and excitement.

Tanaka, who went 24-0 for the Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan last year and then signed a seven-year, $155 million contract with the Yankees in January, will make his major league debut on Friday, starting against the Blue Jays.

The game will be shown live on television in Japan and draw dozens of reporters from Japanese media outlets. And because it is the home opener in Toronto, Rogers Centre will probably be filled with fans and a horde of local news outlets.

“I think there will be a ton of attention on him tomorrow,” Manager Joe Girardi said, “just because of what he did last year in Japan, the contract he signed, the team he signed it with, being opening day in Toronto.”

Larry Rothschild, the Yankees’ pitching coach, said that he would keep a close eye on Tanaka, as he would with any young pitcher making his major league debut. But he did not express any concerns.

“Not more than I would with anyone else,” Rothschild said. “He seems to handle things pretty well. Watching him the last few days, he’s looking forward to it. With the transition of coming to a different country and everything being new to him, he seems to do it very easily. He doesn’t let a lot of things get to him, and he seems to enjoy it all. I think his attitude allows him to adjust a lot quicker than other people.”

The 25-year-old Tanaka made a strong impression in his first spring training. Besides pitching well — he went 2-0 with a 2.14 earned run average in five Grapefruit League starts and led the team with 26 strikeouts — he seemed to make a smooth transition into the Yankees’ clubhouse.

Girardi was asked if he was concerned about the possibility that Tanaka might have to pitch with the Yankees’ record being 0-3. “I don’t want to see anyone pitch for us 0-3; how’s that for an answer?” he said.

Tanaka will become the seventh Japanese-born player to play for the Yankees, following Hideki Irabu, Hideki Matsui, Kei Igawa, Hiroki Kuroda, Ryota Igarashi and Ichiro Suzuki.

EARLY SHUFFLING Joe Girardi shuffled his lineup before Wednesday’s game but not, he said, because the Yankees had lost the first two games of the season. With a schedule of tightly packed games and extensive travel approaching, Girardi said he wanted to give some players rest. He also said he would probably give Derek Jeter the night off Friday in Toronto.

The reconfiguration could provide some insight into how he may shift players around through the course of the season.

Much of his planning centered around the Astros’ starting the left-hander Brett Oberholtzer on Thursday, the third game of the series. Jacoby Ellsbury, Kelly Johnson and Brian McCann were not in the starting lineup; Ichiro Suzuki, Francisco Cervelli and Yangervis Solarte, who was making his first major league start, were. Brett Gardner was scheduled to lead off and move to center field, Carlos Beltran went from right field to designated hitter, Suzuki was in right field, and Cervelli was catching.

Girardi said Ellsbury had no lingering injury problems, although Ellsbury was nursing a sore right calf at the end of spring training and did not play much. Now the Yankees are in the middle of a stretch of 13 games in 13 days to start the season, and Girardi does not want to apply too much stress at once.

“We have a tough schedule these first couple of weeks,” Girardi said. “Thirteen days out of the get-go, we’ll probably get to Toronto at about 5 o’clock, and we have a night game followed by a day game, so it will be tough.”

Girardi hoped that putting Alfonso Soriano in the outfield might get his offense going. Soriano was hitless as the designated hitter in the first two games and prefers to play the field.

Solarte, a 26-year-old utility player from Venezuela, made his debut in Tuesday’s loss as a pinch-hitter.

“I wasn’t nervous; I was just happy,” he said through an interpreter before the game. “Now I’m beyond happy.”

Before the game he took his lineup card around to all the starters and asked them to sign it.

CORE TO BE REUNITED The Yankees announced that Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter would participate in opening day festivities at Yankee Stadium as a salute to the so-called Core Four. Pettitte and Rivera are expected to throw out ceremonial first pitches to Posada and Jeter, the only one of the four still in uniform.